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Over the Edge (1999)
Over The Edge (1999) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which took place on May 23, 1999, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It was the first event not to be promoted under the "In Your House" series of pay-per-views, which typically occurred in months not occupied by the WWF's biggest events (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series). However, due to the accident that forced wrestler Owen Hart to retire, this show is surrounded by controversy and the event was retired. In the main event, The Undertaker defeated Steve Austin in a singles match (with Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon as the guest referees) to win the WWF Championship. Of the six scheduled bouts on the undercard, two received more promotion than the others. The first was a singles match, in which The Rock defeated Triple H. The other was an eight-man elimination tag team match, which featured The Union's (Mankind, Ken Shamrock, Test, and The Big Show) victory over the Corporate Ministry (Viscera, The Big Boss Man, and The Acolytes Bradshaw and Faarooq). Owen Hart was scheduled to face The Godfather for the WWF Intercontinental Championship during the event. Wrestling under his Blue Blazer gimmick, Hart was to make a superhero-like ring entrance, which would have seen him descend from the arena rafters into the ring. He was, however, released prematurely when the harness line malfunctioned, and fell more than 70 feet (21 m) into the ring and nearly died. In court, the Hart family sued the organization, contending that poor planning of the dangerous stunt caused Owen's injury which caused him to retire. WWF settled the case out of court, paying US$18 million to Hart. Background Over the Edge was the culmination of various scripted plots and storylines. Before the event, several WWF professional wrestling matches and stories were played out on WWF programming: RAW is WAR, SmackDown!, and Sunday Night Heat. These narratives created feuds between various wrestlers, casting them as villains and heroes. The main narrative for Over the Edge continued the events that unfolded at Backlash, WWF's previous pay-per-view event, held on April 25, 1999. There, The Undertaker abducted Stephanie McMahon, the daughter of chairman Vince McMahon. The Undertaker's price for Stephanie's return was control over the wrestling organization. His plans were thwarted, however, by the WWF Champion, Steve Austin, who rescued Stephanie and denied The Undertaker his ransom. This plot development set up a feud between the two wrestlers, which would be settled in a standard singles match for the Championship at Over the Edge, in which both Vince and his son Shane, who had aligned himself with The Undertaker, would serve as the guest referee. Originally Shane had named himself the sole referee of the match, but WWF commissioner Shawn Michaels made Vince the co-referee in order to level the playing field. WWF further built up the rivalry between The Undertaker and Austin by having them attack each other on WWF programming, before their showdown. On May 3, 1999, The Undertaker threw Austin off the stage, and two weeks later, the WWF Champion handcuffed his title challenger to a crucifix, which was raised above the ring. Another feud created for Over the Edge involved Triple H and The Rock, who would meet each other in a standard singles match at the event. Triple H had interfered in one of The Rock's matches, and later threw him off the stage. The script called for The Rock to portray an injury to his arm that required him to wear a plaster cast. Shane, acting his role as co-owner of WWF and ally of Triple H, further aggrieved The Rock by forbidding him to wear the cast for Over the Edge. The pay-per-view event featured the build up of a rivalry among two stables, groups of at least three wrestlers. The two groups were the Corporate Ministry and The Union. The Corporate Ministry was formed when The Corporation merged with the Ministry of Darkness; the Corporate Ministry consisted of Viscera, The Big Boss Man, and The Acolytes Bradshaw and Faarooq. Throughout the month of May, the Ministry was involved in matches with Mankind, Ken Shamrock, The Big Show, and Test, and in retaliation, the four wrestlers formed the Union stable. The WWF continued to enhance the feud over several weeks, which included a brawl among all eight wrestlers on May 10, 1999. The evolving plot led to the promotion of an eight-man elimination tag team match between both groups at Over the Edge. In this bout, the team that eliminated all of its opponents would win. Other feuds that received less promotion and culminated into matches at Over the Edge include Mr. Ass versus Road Dogg and The Blue Blazer versus WWF Intercontinental Champion The Godfather for the title in standard singles bouts. Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown versus WWF Tag Team Champions Kane and X-Pac in a tag team match for the titles, Hardcore Holly versus Al Snow in a Hardcore singles match, and a mixed tag team match involving Val Venis and Nicole Bass versus Jeff Jarrett and Debra were also advertised. Event Before the event began and aired live on pay-per-view, an episode of Sunday Night Heat aired live on the USA Network. In a standard match, Meat defeated Brian Christopher, while the Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) defeated Goldust and The Blue Meanie in a tag team match. In the final contest, Vince McMahon and Mideon fought in a singles match that ended in "No Contest", when the Corporate Ministry attacked Vince and broke his ankle in order to prevent him from refereeing the main event match. Preliminary matches After Sunday Night Heat, the pay-per-view began with a tag team match, in which the WWF Tag Team Champions Kane and X-Pac defended against Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown. During the match, Henry lifted X-Pac and rammed his back against the steel ring post at ringside. Afterward, Brown and Henry simultaneously attacked X-Pac, which led Kane to launch himself from the top turnbuckle onto Brown and Henry. After the competitors reentered the ring, Kane performed a chokeslam on Henry, lifting him by the throat and slamming him down. Kane then pinned Henry to retain the WWF Tag Team Title. Next was the hardcore singles bout—a match allowing no disqualifications or countouts. WWF Hardcore Champion Al Snow defended against Hardcore Holly. Holly and Snow began their bout in the ring but were scripted to move their brawl into the arena stands. From there, they proceeded to the backstage area, and into the concession stands before returning to the ring. The fight was decided when Snow lifted Holly onto his shoulders and threw him through a wooden table. Successfully covering and pinning Holly, Snow retained the WWF Hardcore Title. The next scheduled match was WWF Intercontinental Champion The Godfather versus The Blue Blazer in a standard singles match. As Hart descended into the ring on a safety harness, the equipment gave way, and he fell. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) rushed him to the hospital, where he was made stable. The show was halted for 15 minutes before it continued with the next match. The fourth scheduled contest was the Mixed tag team match that featured Val Venis and Nicole Bass facing Jeff Jarrett and Debra. At one point, Jarrett gained possession of a guitar and attempted to hit Bass with it, but Venis took the guitar away and lifted Jarrett from behind to drop him onto the mat; he then pinned Jarrett. In the fourth match of the evening, Mr. Ass defeated his former tag team partner Road Dogg, after hitting him with the time keeper's hammer. Main event matches The fifth match was the eight-man elimination tag-team match between The Union and the Corporate Ministry. Test was eliminated by pinfall after Bradshaw performed a high-impact forearm attack "Clothesline from Hell" on him. Bradshaw was then eliminated by submission as a result of Ken Shamrock's ankle lock. Afterwards, Shamrock was eliminated via disqualification as a result of attacking the referee. Then, Farooq was eliminated by pinfall after The Big Show executed a chokeslam on him. Only one member of each team remained after Viscera and The Big Show failed to return to the ring within ten seconds, and were counted out as a result. The Union won the match after Mankind forced Boss Man to submit with the Mandible claw. The final match on the undercard was a standard match that featured Triple H and The Rock. Continuing the storyline of The Rock's injured arm, Triple H was scripted to target and attack The Rock's arm. Towards the final moments of the bout, Triple H asked Chyna, his valet, to retrieve a folding chair. The referee, however, took it away from him, which led to an argument between Triple H and the referee; the mishap prompted Triple H to push the referee down. The referee disqualified Triple H for this action; thus, The Rock won the match. After the match, Mankind ran in to save The Rock from Triple H and Chyna. The main event was a singles match in which WWF Champion Steve Austin defended against The Undertaker. Originally, Shane and Vince McMahon were supposed to be the guest referees, but due to storyline purposes, Pat Patterson, an accomplice of Vince McMahon, replaced Vince, who had had his ankle broken earlier in the event, in order to prevent Shane from helping The Undertaker. Patterson, however, was unable to officiate the entire match after The Undertaker executed a chokeslam on him. The Undertaker and Austin wrestled inconclusively until Austin hit The Undertaker on the head with a folding chair. As Austin went to cover The Undertaker, Gerald Brisco, another accomplice of Vince, came down to the ring to replace Patterson and officiated the unsuccessful pinfall attempt by Austin. Like his partner Patterson, Brisco was unable to officiate the entire match after The Undertaker attacked him. Vince then came down to the ring as another referee replacement, but when Austin forcefully pulled The Undertaker's head over his shoulders to perform a stunner, Shane prevented him from performing a three count. As Vince and Shane argued, Austin got up and confronted Vince at which point Shane shoved Vince into Austin, who fell into a roll-up by The Undertaker and then performed a fast count to give him the victory and the WWF Title. Owen Hart accident When Owen Hart was to challenge The Godfather for the WWF Intercontinental Champion's title, he was performing as the Blue Blazer. The character was a superhero gimmick that parodied various wrestlers. At Over the Edge, Hart was to emulate World Championship Wrestling (WCW) wrestler Sting's ring entrance by descending from the arena rafters into the ring. The entrance was successfully tested on the November 15, 1998, episode of Sunday Night Heat; however, during his descent at Over the Edge, a cable disengaged from the safety vest he wore, causing him to fall over 70 feet (21 m) from the rafters into the ring. As he fell, his chest landed on one of the ring's padded turnbuckles. The accident was not viewed by television viewers. A pre-recorded interview video was shown at the start of Hart's descent, and when the broadcast returned live, the cameras quickly turned away from the ring to the audience. Soon afterward, Jim Ross, one of the commentators of the event, informed pay-per-view viewers that Hart had fallen from the rafters, that the incident was "not a part of the entertainment" and that it was "a real situation". EMTs came down to the ring and gave Hart CPR, but he showed no response to the treatment. Bringing Hart out on a gurney, the EMTs boarded the heavily injured wrestler into an ambulance and took him to a nearby hospital in Kansas City. After the incident, the event was halted for fifteen minutes, until Vince McMahon and other WWF Corporate officials made the decision to continue the event. Hart's coworkers, professional wrestlers and other miscellaneous workers, appeared somber after Hart's fall as they continued to do their jobs. The fans in attendance were not told any information about what had happened to Hart. Aftermath After the event, in response to Owen Hart's accident, the WWF canceled the encore presentation of Over the Edge via pay-per-view, and they also canceled four live events in Canada and one in Illinois. Information about Over the Edge from the WWF (now named the WWE) is sparse because the event was never released on VHS or DVD due to Hart's accident. Three weeks after the event, the Hart family sued the WWF for causing Owen's accident with a poorly planned stunt; they claimed that the harness system was defective. After the court case had extended one-and-a-half years, a settlement was reached on November 2, 2000, when the WWF agreed to pay the Hart family US$18 million. The manufacturer of the harness system had also been named as a defendant in the case but was dismissed from the case after the settlement was reached. After Over the Edge, The Rock was scripted into a feud with The Undertaker over his WWF Championship. The evolving feud culminated into a standard match at King of the Ring, the WWF's June pay-per-view event, after The Rock defeated The Undertaker and Triple H in a standard match involving three wrestlers (also called a triple threat match), to earn a WWF Championship match against The Undertaker. At King of the Ring, The Undertaker defeated The Rock to retain his title. After Steve Austin lost his WWF Title, he engaged in a rivalry with Vince and Shane McMahon in retaliation for their interference during his match at Over the Edge. Intending to humiliate Austin, Vince and Shane scheduled Austin in a standard match against The Undertaker for his title on June 28, however, Austin won the match and the title. Eventually, the WWF developed a feud with Austin, Mankind, and Triple H over the WWF title, which led to a match at SummerSlam, the WWF's August pay-per-view event. There, Mankind won the WWF title. Results Category:1999 in wrestling Category:Pay-Per-View Events Category:WWE for Extreme Category:WWF Over the Edge